United States - European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries, Volume II
Overview of 2018-2019 International Urban Freight Roundtables
| Research | Metro Plans | Policy | United States |
TECH Day: A Method for Cities to Determine Which Goods Delivery Technologies to Permit and Pilot Test
The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) developed and applied a new approach that brought retail and delivery firm executives, city officials, and venture capital (VC) firms together for one day to evaluate in real time the public and private benefits of pre-vetted advanced delivery technologies such as sensory devices and robots that can carry packages from trucks into buildings. The event brought together these parties to hear each others' point of view on each proposal, answering very quickly questions such as "Will it fit into the company's business model?" "Will city officials permit on their streets?" and "Will VCs invest in commercializing the technologies?" The first TECH Day, which was conducted in 2017 by the UFL, Seattle DOT (SDOT), and 5 VCs provides a method any city may use to determine which goods delivery technologies to permit and pilot test on city streets.
Project Types
Research, Metropolitan Plans.
Period of Performance
April 2017 - August 2018.
Project Site
Seattle, Washington, USA.
Contact
Barb Ivanov
Director, Urban Freight Lab
SCTL Center, University of Washington
Seattle, WA, USA
IvanovB@uw.edu
Topics Addressed
- Air quality/environment.
- Building/road design.
- Curbside delivery and parking.
- Economic competitiveness.
- Land use interactions.
- Last mile delivery.
- Livability/quality of life.
Key Outcomes
TECH Day 2017 showed that a real-time evaluation of goods delivery technologies by public officials, private firms, and investors helped all parties understand whether the proposed technologies would meet firms' business needs, be scalable to other major cities (therefore providing sufficient market demand for investors), and provide public benefits for modern cities.
Stakeholder Involvement
Numerous stakeholders contributed to TECH Day's success. Venture capitalists, who hear hundreds of proposals, quickly recognized which tech firms had potential to solve the UFL's goals and had a large market. Members of the UFL (retailers and delivery firms) knew whether or not a business case existed for the tech products. SDOT representatives provided their expert knowledge. The UFL research team pre-vetted the participating technology firms for their ability to solve the Lab's two priority goals: feasibility and scalability.
